What an Olympic first week!

Day off today, time to relax (finally), reflect and take in what has happened during this fantastic week.  So much has happened, seen so many sites, met millions of people, amazing venues, great experiences, awesome memories, which will be with me for the rest of my life!  I am exhausted thinking about it.

Day one was amazing, busy working with a great bunch of volunteers.  All of us mega excited to be part of such a momentous occasion.  Spent the day checking accreditation for press, media and Olympic family.  Great to meet such a variety of people, from all over the world.  Managed to sneak inside to take a pic or two, especially when Becky was swimming for the qualifiers!  The atmosphere was electric, the entire venue exploded with cheering, shouting, clapping and support for Becky.  She did us proud, qualified and was awarded a bronze medal for all her hard work.  Big congrats to Becky, well done!!!


Inside the amazing whale shaped Aquatics Centre

Spent the next couple of days validating tickets, scanning tickets and assisting with ticket resolution.  It's surprising how many spectators arrived at the wrong venue, for the wrong session and some managed to turn up without their ticket.  I guess they are over excited by the sense of the occasion and who can blame them.  You'd think after spending hundreds of pounds on tickets spectators would be more prepared! 

Managed to spot a celeb or two, Sharron Davies, Gary Lineker, David Cameron, the French President and DJ Chris Evans to name a few. The best part of this day was seeing all the spectators, many dressed from head to toe in their country colours and costumes, with their respective flags of support.  Some fantastic wigs, entire Team GB suits, leggings, dresses, t-shirts, you name it, the spectators where wearing it!  Amazing face paints, awesome traditional dress and many many more colourful sites!

My first day off was spent back on the Olympic Park, this time in the magnificent Copper Box.  Watched Team GB play Handball against Sweden.  A great opportunity for me to see another venue and experience a different part of the massive Olympic Park.  An interesting Olympic sport, took some getting used to and I could tell from the off that this was not something the Team GB would excel at, Sweden beat us by a slight margin, 42-19!  It was obvious that Sweden where on a different level, the players where taller, faster and played tactically - much better.  The entire album from the game can be viewed here.



Team GB, arriving into a packed venue ahead of the Handball!

The next shift involved working inside the Aquatics seating bowl.  This mainly comprised of showing spectators to the relevant block and seat.  This was an interesting position to work in and was extremely stressful at times.  Queues soon built up, especially prior to the start of competitions.  I had to ensure that main stairwells kept clear and spectators did not stand and/or block the accessible seating viewing area.  I managed to take a pic for my collection of some of the volunteer team that I worked with on this shift, what a great bunch they are!



Team Aquatics - woohoo!

Thursday was a fantastic day, with a much needed family visit to the Olympic Park!  Not that I needed anymore of a boost, but it's always a welcome treat to meet up with loved ones! Spent the afternoon having a stroll around the Park, soaking up the atmosphere and showing the family around my 'home'!  It was quite surreal finally seeing them on the Park, where I had been training and working for so long!  The entire family was just as amazed at the size of the Park, structures and venues.  We walked as much as we could, but it was difficult to get around the entire park without the kids getting tired.  Spent a fortune in the London 2012 Mega Store, but we are only going to be here once so what the heck!  The album from the family visit can be seen via my Facebook page here.  Here is my favourite picture from the day!



The Chaudry's at the Olympic Park


The final day from week one had arrived so quick!  It was hard to believe after all this build up I was half way through this great experience.  Met up with a friend from work, again, like the family meet, it was surreal to meet people you know from your 'proper' job in this amazing environment.  Only had five minutes or so for a quick catch-up, as I was waiting to be deployed to my post for the final shift of the week.

To sum up, I am a little saddened but also amazed just how quick the week as flown by.  The experience and atmosphere is out of this world, unreal, nothing like I have ever experienced before in my life.  Meeting people from all over the world, all the different cultures, has by far been the best part of the whole experience to date.  Hope Team GB continue to rise up the medal table and keep the pressure up!  Looking forward to seeing what the week ahead will bring for both all the competing athletes and for my final week as an Olympic volunteer.